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To nurse to life or activity; to cherish and promote by excitements; to encourage; to abet; to instigate; -- used often in a bad sense; as, to foment ill humors. Locke. But quench the choler you foment in vain. Dryden. Exciting and fomenting a religious rebellion. Southey.

, and contradistinguished from matter; hence, active or formative nature; law of being or activity; subjectively viewed, an idea; objectively, a law.

Not subjected to the laws of physical necessity; capable of voluntary activity; endowed with moral liberty; -- said of the will. Not free, what proof could they have given sincere Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love. Milton.

course of action which peculiarly pertains to any public officer in church or state; the activity appropriate to any business or profession. Tradesmen . . . going about their functions. Shak. The malady which made him incapable of performing his regal functions. Macaulay.

In a functional manner; as regards normal or appropriate activity. The organ is said to be functionally disordered. Lawrence.

state of suspended animation); hence, to stimulate or excite to a factitious animation or activity.

n (A. atricapillus) are the best known species. They are noted for their powerful flight, activity, and courage. The Australian goshawk (A. Novæ-Hollandiæ) is pure white.

source of life and motion in any organization; the chief or vital portion; the center of activity, or of energetic or efficient action; as, the heart of a country, of a tree, etc. Exploits done in the heart of France. Shak. Peace subsisting at the heart Of endless agitation. Wordsworth.

To impel to precipitate or thoughtless action; to urge to confused or irregular activity. And wild amazement hurries up and down The little number of your doubtful friends. Shak.

artificial means, in which there is an unusual suspension of some powers, and an unusual activity of others. It is induced by an action upon the nerves, through the medium of the senses, as in persons of very feeble organization, by gazing steadly at a very bright object held before the eyes, or by pressure upon certa…

eing idle (in the various senses of that word); uselessness; fruitlessness; triviality; inactivity; laziness.

thin; inherent; indwelling; abiding; intrinsic; internal or subjective; hence, limited in activity, agency, or effect, to the subject or associated acts; -- opposed to emanant, transitory, transitive, or objective. A cognition is an immanent act of mind. Sir W. Hamilton. An immanent power in the life of the world. Hare…

That which impedes or hinders progress, motion, activity, or effect. Thus far into the bowels of the land Have we marched on without impediment. Shak. Impediment in speech, a defect which prevents distinct utterance.

Wanting in some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity. He . . . stammered like a child, or an amazed, imperfect person. Jer. Taylor.

Want of action or activity; forbearance from labor; idleness; rest; inertness. Berkeley.

Not active; inert; esp., not exhibiting any action or activity on polarized light; optically neutral; -- said of isomeric forms of certain substances, in distinction from other forms which are optically active; as, racemic acid is an inactive tartaric acid.

f ease or aversion to toil; habitual idleness; indisposition to labor; laziness; sloth; inactivity. Life spent in indolence, and therefore sad. Cowper. As there is a great truth wrapped up in "diligence," what a lie, on the other hand, lurks at the root of our present use of the word "indolence"! This is from "in" and…

Want of activity; sluggishness; -- said especially of the uterus, when, in labor, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased. Center of inertia. (Mech.) See under Center.

Want of activity or exertion; inertness; quietude. [R.] These vicissitudes of exertion and inertion of the arterial system constitute the paroxysms of remittent fever. E. Darwin.

Without activity; sluggishly. Pope.